Harry Redknapp had never "been around anybody who was gay" until he met John Barrowman on ‘I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here’.
The 72-year-old football manager admitted that during his stint on the Australian jungle show, he spoke to people for the first time who "had nothing to do with football", and confessed that prior to his friendship with the ‘Doctor Who’ actor he had never been around homosexual men.
In an interview with The Times Magazine, he said: "I met people for the first time who had nothing to do with football. For the first time I had to speak about things I had never spoken about before in my life. I had to understand their worlds.
"Well, I’ll be honest; I had never really been around anybody … I don’t know if we can say this, anybody who was gay.
"But then I met John Barrowman and I loved him. It was interesting to learn about his life."
Despite the pair’s friendship, the star was taken aback during his time in the jungle when the actor revealed Harry’s son Jamie Redknapp was his "celebrity crush".
John previously said: "He’s hot. He’s totally hot. When people say, ‘Who’s your celeb crush?’, I’d say, ‘Jamie Redknapp.’
"I actually told Harry in the jungle. I said, ‘I fancied Jamie when I was younger,’ and I don’t think he knew how to take it right away because he was just getting to know me."
John and Harry’s fellow former campmate Emily Atack also confessed her love for Jamie during their time in the jungle, but the ‘Torchwood’ actor admitted it could’ve been "awkward" if the ‘Inbetweeners’ star ended up in a relationship with the football pundit, because John knows Jamie’s ex-wife Louise Redknapp, who has two sons, Charles, 14, and Beau, 10, with him.
He said: "If she [Emily] wanted to pursue that, she could. It could be awkward though because I know Louise."
Harry Redknapp had never been around gay man before John Barrowman
